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malq

Veteran Member
It's Thanksgiving in Florida again..

They are calling him a suspect, I am going to ahead and say he is the one,
He is on the run, and his family is left in a pool of blood including his twin sisters. Wtf? It's Thanksgiving in Florida again..

Police in southern Florida were searching Friday for a man in connection with the fatal shootings of four people and the wounding of another.
e9z1mx.jpg

Detectives in Jupiter, Florida, were looking for Paul Michael Merhige, 35, said Jupiter Police Sgt. Scott Pascarella.

The victims were found Thursday night in a home in Jupiter, he said.
339rubk.jpg

McKayla Sitton,,the 6 year old girl he killed
Merhige's 33-year-old twin sisters, Carla and Lisa Merhige, and Ramon Joseph, 76, were fatally shot, Pascarella said. The suspect's 6-year-old cousin, McKayla Sitton, died after being rushed to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

His brother-in-law Patrick McKnight survived gunshot wounds; his condition was not disclosed.

The shooting occurred about 10 p.m. Thursday. Pascarella said he did not know the motive.

Merhige was thought to have left the area in a blue 2007 Toyota Camry with Florida license plate number W42 7JT, the officer said.

The suspect has a Miami address and could be fleeing there, Pascarella said.http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/27/florida.shooting/index.html
 
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Let's hope they don't find him with a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. I'd rather him be in jail in another man's arms...
 
I can't wait to hear a motive on this.

My extended family members didn't invite me to their Thanksgiving dinner because I left the church they all believe in. Most of them wont let me talk to their children (my cousins) simply because they think I am going to try and turn them into little militant atheists.

I don't care what they say about me, I would never in a zillion years pull out a handgun and try and wipe them all out!

What in the world happened that this guy thought shooting his sisters, brother in law and a 6 YEAR OLD was a good idea?

I hope he is caught before he tries to kill himself. I, too, think that he should spend some quality time as the new bitch in cell block D.
 
Makaylas Father is a WPTV Channel 5 photographer

JUPITER — Federal marshals and law enforcement officers from Jupiter to southern Miami-Dade County are searching this morning for Michael Merhige, the 35-year-old Miami-area man police believe shattered a family Thanksgiving dinner in Jupiter.

Merhige fatally shot his twin sisters and his 76-year-old aunt, and injured two other relatives, and killed his 6-year-old niece as she slept in her bed.

"God packed a lot of sweetness into that little body," Jim Sitton, shaken and ashen, told reporters this morning.

The photographer for WPTV-TV Channel 5 found himself on the other side of the camera in the worst way: Makayla Sitton was his only daughter and Lisa and Carla Merhige, both 33, were his sisters, according to the station's web site.
Merhige, who as a Miami-area teen had been a top scholar and athlete at the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School, is believed armed and dangerous, Jupiter police said.

Jupiter police say 17 invited friends and relatives, including Merhige, were packed into the home at 104 Via Veracruz, near Military Trail and Indiantown Road.

"It was discovered the suspect did in fact have on-going resentment toward several family members within the residence," police said in a release. "At some point, the suspect exited the residence and returned a short time later. As he stood inside the residence, he began shooting the victims without warning."

Police said Merhige killed the child and the sisters and aunt Raymonde Joseph, and injured Lisa Merhige's husband, Patrick Knight, 37, and a cousin, Clifford Gebara, 52 .

There's no immediate word on the condition of the two injured men.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/police-killer-of-jupiter-girl-6-three-others-87054.html
Little Makayla was to perform in the 'Nutcracker' play, today....
 
Pascarella said there was an "ongoing resentment" in the family, but didn't know the nature of the problem or whether the victims were specifically targeted.

Whatever it was, it sure came out in a bad way. The only reason I would want the SOB to live is so he could suffer in prison but I won't lose sleep if he gets shot dead by cops either.
 
There were two injured and Lisa was pregnant!!

JUPITER, Fla. — Police say a pregnant woman was among the four people shot to death at a family Thanksgiving gathering in South Florida.

Jupiter Police spokeswoman Sally Collins-Ortiz did not say how far along Lisa Knight was in her pregnancy. She was killed along with her twin sister, 33-year-old Carla Merhige, and 76-year-old aunt Raymonde Joseph.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5in1yL0Gbc_cnDRUsJ5Xh7J645_OAD9C80GE00
Authorities say a fifth victim, Patrick McKnight, is being treated at a hospital.
http://www.weartv.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.fl/27d497fa-www.weartv.com.shtml
I believe Patricks last name is actually Knight and he is the husband of Lisa Merhige Knight.....
MakaylaSitton-6killedonThanksgiving.jpg

Makayla Sitton, 6 years old
CarlaMerhige-Facebook.jpg

Carla Merhige, 33 (Facebook photo)
LisaMerhigeKnight.jpg

Lisa Merhige Knight (Her website photo- http://www.floridamoves.com/agentoffice/agentdetail.aspx?agent=80032 )

Video here: http://www.wptv.com/mostpopular/sto...im-makayla-sitton/o4dQzBCDU0eXmlvrsRWYhw.cspx
 
Pascarella said police received a 911 call from a neighbor shortly after 10 p.m. Police then received a second 911 call from someone within the home, which is owned by a local TV videojournalist and his wife. Makayla Sitton is the photojournalist's daughter.

Pascarella said the shootings took place inside the house. He said that sometime after Thanksgiving dinner, Merhige left the residence and returned shortly afterward with a handgun.

"What led to this incident, we're not quite sure," said Pascarella. "It did not appear there was any altercation prior to this shooting."

Pascarella said there was an "ongoing resentment" in the family, but didn't know the nature of the problem or whether the victims were specifically targeted.

Police said the home was owned by Jim Sitton, a photojournalist for WPTV-TV. Sitton told WPTV his daughter was in bed when she was shot. He was at the party at the time of the shooting but was not wounded.

Yellow crime scene tape was stretched around Sitton's salmon-colored house, located in a well-kept subdivision of stucco homes. Several cars were parked in the driveway, and a crime scene van sat in front.

Sitton told local media that his daughter was supposed to perform Friday in a holiday production of "The Nutcracker."

"God packed a lot of sweetness into that little body," Sitton said. "She's just our life. I don't know how we are ever going to recover."

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/21737428/detail.html

A lot more at the link. What a sad story :(

I'm from Jupiter and it's crazy to think something like this happened in such a lax beach town. I'm wondering where the hell did he get this gun from? I hope they catch his sorry ass.
 
Does anyone there you know, know him for some inside info?

No, nobody I know knows of them, the family is mostly all from Miami though. A lot of people in Jupiter are tight knit so if someone knew something one of my friends would know lol. Gawd I miss that place uber boring town as a teen but great place to live, I can see that now :/
 
History of Mental problems

Paul Michael Merhige, the man police believe killed four and wounded two at a family Thanksgiving dinner in Jupiter, killing four and wounding two, has a history of mental problems and suicide attempts, according to a handyman who worked for his family.

Luis Sanchez, 56, who works for many families in the neighborhood, said he had worked for the Merhiges for at least six years and knew them very well.
Sanchez said only Mehrige's parents, Michael and Carole, lived in the house, and the three children often visited.

"A friend of mine called this morning to tell me about this and I said that can't be true," said Sanchez, who is originally from Peru. "But he said it was. I began to cry and then I began to pray. In don't understand what happened.

"They are wonderful people," he said of the parents. "The fact is with this they have lost all three of their children all at the same time and I can't imagine how painful that must be for them. The fact that the twin sisters came into life together and then died on the same day too; my God!"
Today, Sanchez called Paul Merhige "a conflictive person."
No Florida public records indicate Merhige has been involuntarily committed.

Under Florida law, anyone with a history of being involuntarily committed to a mental institution, or judged incompetent or mentally defective, from obtaining a firearm permit.

But the law is silent about people voluntarily treated for mental illness.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1354491.html
I doubt very much that Paul Michael is still alive, I suspect he has already committed suicide. I don't think he could face his parents or prison.
PaulMichaelMerhige-DLphoto-shotfour.jpg

Paul Michael Merhige,35

He doesn't look right, even in his DL photo!!
 
A bit more...

In my last post, the article indicated the parents owned the house, not so, it belonged to Jim and Muriel Sitton, the Merhiges nephew!
Paul Micheal Merhige most recently lived in a Spanish-style house with his parents in a quiet Kendall cul-de-sac off Southwest 88th Avenue.

Court records reveal that in 1998, Merhige was arrested on disorderly conduct charges. They also show that he was in court on domestic violence matters concerning his younger sister, Carla.

The records are partially blocked out but include the words "threatening" and "injunction." According to records, the case was dropped after a hearing on the injunction. Merhige's disorderly conduct charges were also dismissed without a conviction.

In 2006, Carla again sought a permanent injunction against her brother. A month later, the case was also dropped.
http://www.wpbf.com/news/21741690/detail.html
So Paul had a resentment with Carla, more than the others??? Holding a long time grudge is never good....
 
Makayla was eulogized at the Eissey Campus Theatre before the 'Nutcracker'

MakaylaSittondances.jpg

Makayla Sitton dancing....
Today was supposed to be a special day for Makayla Sitton.

The wide-eyed, 6-year-old girl was going to perform in The Nutcracker at the Eissey Campus Theatre at Palm Beach Community College's Palm Beach Gardens campus.

She couldn't wait.

"Makayla loved ballet," said Colleen Smith, artistic director of the Florida Classical Ballet Theatre. "She was so thrilled because this was the first time she was able to participate in The Nutcracker."

Makayla was to be one of Mother Ginger's children.

But instead of performing, little Makayla was briefly eulogized.
"She was a delightful little girl. She was luminous," Smith said. "Makalya was always smiling and tried to make the other children feel better. She was such a dear child."
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/nutcracker-debut-turns-into-eulogy-for-slain-6-87569.html
:crying:
 
There will be more of these incidents throughout the holiday season. These psychotic fucks just love to snap when they have the whole family together. I guess they think it is easier to kill all the birds with one stone or some sort of stupid shit like that.
 
Evidentally "Violent deaths mar Merhige family history"
In July 1973, the twins' aunt -- Salwa Merrige-Abrams, a well-known opera singer and the sister of Michael Merhige, who is father of the twins and the suspected shooter -- killed her husband and two children at her home in Miami.

The mezzo soprano -- who gave up a high-profile career to raise her children -- died five days later, at 43, of a drug overdose.
Sooo... looks like it runs in the family...

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/1354986.html
 
We have banners and warnings at each commercail to be watching for him b/c hes only got contacts to metro detroit they said.I have no clue who the contacts are they havent said just keep showiong his pic and the warnings.But when they have anything in Detroit they have them for our city as well
 
He didn't say a word. He just started shooting.

A witness to Thursday night's massacre in Jupiter said no one knows what set off Paul Michael Merhige, who police say killed four relatives and an unborn child at the end of a Thanksgiving meal.

But when the killing was near done, the first three already dead or dying, he reloaded his handgun and spoke.

"I've been waiting 20 years to do this," Merhige announced to one relative, according to Jim Sitton, whose 6-year-old daughter was the last one killed.

Moments later, Sitton said, Merhige barged into 6-year-old Makayla Sitton's room and shot her five times in her bed, executing what police say was his final victim while her father tried in vain to break through the window from outside.

"He didn't even know her," Sitton, a cameraman for WPTV-Channel 5, said in an interview Saturday. "He purposely walked down the hallway, opened her dark room and shot her five times. What kind of monster does that? What kind of evil?"

Merhige, a 35-year-old Miami-area resident said to have a history of mental problems and an ongoing grudge against several family members, was still being hunted by federal and local law enforcement Saturday night, believed to be armed and highly volatile.

Jupiter police said he bought "multiple" firearms shortly before Thursday's shootings, although they did not say how recently he made the purchase. They said the manhunt was focused on Florida, but they have also alerted police in the Detroit area, where Merhige has family ties. He also has ties to Haiti.
[...]

Sitton, who lived in the house on Via Veracruz in Jupiter with his wife, Muriel, and their only daughter, said Merhige was a late addition to their Thanksgiving feast. In all 17 people came, including Merhige, who is Muriel's cousin.

The family knew Merhige — once a standout athelete at a prestigious Miami high school and an honors student at the University of Miami — had deep-rooted problems with his family. But they had not seen him in over a decade and felt no reason to be concerned.

"We had a great dinner," Sitton said. "(Merhige) sat a couple of chairs down away from me. I joked around with him. I didn't see any red flags or any irrational behavior."

No arguments or quarrels took place that Sitton could remember. But around 10 p.m. Merhige stepped outside the house without warning.

When he came back in police say he began shooting.

Police say when Merhige was done he had killed his aunt, Raymonde Joseph, 76, of Jupiter; his twin sisters, Carla Merhige and pregnant Lisa Knight, both 33 and of Miami; and Makayla, his cousin Muriel's daughter. Also injured was Knight's husband, Patrick, and a cousin, Clifford Gebara.

"I think he had the opportunity to kill his dad and he didn't," Sitton said. "So I think — and this is just speculation — I think who he wanted to punish his parents. For God knows what."
[...]
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/i-ve-been-waiting-20-years-to-do-88712.html
 
20 years? His twin sisters would have been 13 then. He was 15. What on earth could have happened then worth carrying a grudge over for so long?

Sounds like he was definitely insane. Not sure it is worth hoping they'll catch him alive. I doubt interviewing him will make his actions any more understandable.
 
I really dont see him heading this was unless hes still out for more blood.I mean what kinda family memeber is going to hide him out .Unless he takes them hostage or kills them.But Im sure they must have massive police presence around the homes in Detr.Only reason we are warned when something is happening in Detr is b/c its so easy for them to find a way to sneekk over here.There are tunnels underground still from prohibition,a canoe left in someones front yard can be used(and is all the time)
 
MacKaylas dad was on news tonight.He has a voice mail on his cell phone he has saved since last xmas of her singing him a song!!!He played and let us listen I had a meltdown.He also was saying how he was outside her bedroom window trying to bust in her window and save her as he watched him pump 5 BULLETS INTO HIS SLEEPING DAUGHTER.He saw it!!I cant imagine what hes going through.
 
Turns out my sister is going to help the family out. She writes...

My friend's sister knows their family and goes to church with them. They still can't go back into the house and have people coming in for the funerals so they're getting dinner for thurs and fri prepared for them and buying food in bulk for bfast like pancakes and coffee. I offered to help. I'm making raspberry cream cheese brownies.

I just can't imagine the grief and pain they are going through. To watch your daughter murdered ugh I don't think I would ever recover from that :frown3:

He is believed to be driving a 2007 blue, four-door Toyota Camry with Florida license tag W42 7JT.

"Let's catch the monster," Sitton said.

Meanwhile, Sitton said he wishes he could tell his daughter one last thing.

"Come back, baby," he said.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to contact the Jupiter Police Department at 561-746-6201. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his arrest.
http://www.wpbf.com/news/21759055/detail.html
 
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